


bad that good defines

by Narci



Series: See the Forest, Not Just the Trees [9]
Category: Mo Dao Zu Shi, 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV)
Genre: A tiny bit of fluff, Angst, Canon Compliant, Character Study, Gen, Introspection, M/M, SSC, familial ties, from a time before the Wen Indoctrination, no beta we die like jiang cheng's happiness, v v light wangxian just fyi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:06:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26700379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Narci/pseuds/Narci
Summary: Jiang Cheng loves his family. His sister, his mother, his father, even his brother (though he doesn’t usually let the man in question know). Jiang Cheng loves his family more than anything. He can see what Demonic Cultivation is doing to his brother, but he also knows that using demonic cultivation might just be the only way to beat Wen Ruohan.-/-character study of wwx by jc
Relationships: Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín & Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn
Series: See the Forest, Not Just the Trees [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1915600
Comments: 12
Kudos: 103





	bad that good defines

**Author's Note:**

> oof, i don't really like this one, but i've put it off for too long, so there you go. (fun fact, this fic was supposed to be before honor bound, play your part, and help us to be brave...) i feel like i didn't do jc justice and it makes me even more stressed about my planned lwj bit. 
> 
> ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, we're getting close to the end y'all! 
> 
> i hope you keep reading even if this part disappoints you as much as it disappoints me.

Wuxian. No envies. 

Ha, Jiang Cheng thinks bitterly after losing to his brother _once again,_ Wei Wuxian may have no envy, but he sure does inspire it. Wei Wuxian is the perfect Jiang disciple. ‘Attempt the impossible.’ Wei Wuxian does one better and accomplishes the impossible many, many times. 

Jiang Cheng has never loved and hated someone so much at the same time.

-/-

At a young age, Jiang Cheng acquires an older brother in exchange for his dogs. (He doesn’t know at the time that this trade will be the best and worst thing that ever happens to him.) It doesn’t seem like a fair trade, but he _guesses_ he’ll take Wei Ying if he _has_ to. Even if that means having to temporarily share a room with the other boy. Jiang Cheng thinks that he’s being rather generous at this point. Wei Ying better be happy.

-/-

Wei Wuxian is Jiang Cheng’s brother.

-/-

“Hey, hey, hey! Shouldn’t you be calling me Shixiong, Shidi?” Wei Wuxian looks a lot better now than when his dad first took him in, Jiang Cheng thinks. His hair is longer than Jiang Cheng’s, but at least Jiang Cheng puts effort into making sure that his hair is braided and pulled up every morning like a proper Jiang disciple. It’s a lot more than Wei Wuxian ever does. 

“Maybe if you actually act like my Shixiong, I’ll address you as such.” Wei Wuxian snorts loudly in response before beginning to whine about no one respecting their elders. Jiang Cheng thinks it’s ridiculous because even Wei Wuxian himself knows that no one in their right mind would consider _Wei Wuxian_ their elder. 

“Come on! We have to start training soon or Mother will punish us!” A slight flinch in Wei Wuxian’s flailing hands is the only obvious reaction he has to punishment. Jiang Cheng notices, and he knows what it means. He says nothing.

“Ah, first you refuse to call me Shixiong, and now you’re threatening to call Madam Yu? Am I no longer your brother?” Wei Wuxian plays at betrayal as Jiang Cheng ignores him and marches to the training grounds. 

“Is that how it is, Jiang Cheng? Are we breaking up? I see how it is,” Wei Wuxian dramatically continues even as he follows behind the determined Jiang Cheng. “I’m not good enough to be your brother or your Shixiong!”

Maybe, Wei Wuxian doesn’t deserve the title, but for now, Jiang Cheng is rather set on keeping his ridiculous older brother. Who else can handle Wei Wuxian, anyway? Jiang Cheng’s doing the world a favor by not returning him to the wild.

-/-

Wei Wuxian is Jiang Cheng’s best friend.

-/-

Jiang Cheng enjoys finally being better at something than Wei Wuxian is. Even if it’s only because Wei Wuxian has never really been swimming before. 

“What if I drown, Jiang Cheng? Are you sure I have to get in?” Wei Wuxian titters as he stares at the calm waters surrounding Lotus Pier. The boat rocks as he occasionally twitches. Jiang Cheng thinks it’s about time Wei Wuxian learns how to swim just like any other resident of Lotus Pier, “Can we just paddle ba-Aaaaahhhhhhck!”

Jiang Cheng jumps in after he finishes pushing Wei Wuxian in. He wants to be there just in case the other boy has some trouble after all. Not that he’s worried, Jiang Cheng just wants to relish in his superiority. Yeah, that’s it. 

“Why would you do that??????” Wei Wuxian screeches as he spits out a mouthful of fresh water. He looks like a drowned rat with his high ponytail drooping and his bangs plastered to his forehead, Jiang Cheng notes with a giggle. “Did you just _laugh_ at me? You did! Shidi, ah, Shidi! The ultimate betrayal!” 

“You were never going to get in if I didn’t push you!” Jiang Cheng realizes that the other boy is expertly treading water only after Wei Wuxian pushes his head under it. When Jiang Cheng resurfaces, he doesn’t have time to contemplate how Wei Wuxian could possibly be a natural at this as well, he only has time to gulp a breath before he’s unceremoniously dunked back under. 

“Wei Wuxian!” Jiang Cheng roars when he finally manages to swim far enough away to escape getting pushed down again. He furiously begins attempting to splash the older boy.

“Call me Shixiong!” Wei Wuxian laughs wildly as Jiang Cheng finally scores a hit on him. 

-/-

For all that Wei Wuxian is not his blood, he is Jiang Cheng’s family.

-/-

When the peacock insulted his sister, Jiang Cheng snapped. If Wei Wuxian hadn’t responded faster, Jiang Cheng is sure he’d be the one going home. 

Jiang Cheng clenches his fists against his knees. 

He’s relieved that he isn’t being sent back before finishing the year. He’s angry that Wei Wuxian is. He’s ashamed that he can’t even defend his own sister quicker than Wei Wuxian. He’s irritated that he couldn’t control himself well enough to end the situation peacefully, his father would’ve been able to.

Jiang Cheng doesn’t know what to feel when Wei Wuxian is shipped back to Lotus Pier. 

All he knows is that the rest of the year is going to be much quieter. Everyone else seems to agree with him. 

-/-

Lotus Pier falls. It’s Wei Wuxian’s fault, his mother had sneered, and Jiang Cheng can’t help but agree when he sees his parents’ bodies. 

-/-

The Wens are looking for them, Jiang Cheng notes in an absentminded way as he sees a wanted poster with his own face on it. He can see Wei Wuxian buying food for them, and he hears when the roaming Wen soldiers see him too. 

Maybe it’s Wei Wuxian’s fault, maybe it’s not. Either way, Jiang Cheng can’t just watch as his brother (are they still brothers?) is captured. He pulls himself from the ground and makes a distraction. 

When the Wens catch Jiang Cheng, he comforts himself with the knowledge that Wei Wuxian is safe.

-/-

Wei Wuxian is still Jiang Cheng’s family, and Jiang Cheng doesn’t have many family members left at this point. It’s just him, his sister, and Wei Wuxian.

-/-

Jiang Cheng loses his core. He’s useless. He can’t even avenge his parents. But Wei Wuxian can, and he will. His brother always does what Jiang Cheng can’t manage to. 

If one of them had to be caught, Jiang Cheng is glad it was him. He stares at the ceiling as tears silently run down his blank face. 

-/-

Wei Wuxian saves him, and Jiang Cheng is immensely relieved and annoyed. It means Wei Wuxian is okay, and that he’s still able to fight, but it also means that he’ll see Jiang Cheng in this state. He’ll know that Jiang Cheng is so beneath his brother’s level now, that they’re not even truly comparable.

Wei Wuxian finds out, and Jiang Cheng gets a sick kind of pleasure at the guilt and pain that flash through his brother’s eyes. 

Wei Wuxian leaves, and, for one moment, Jiang Cheng fears that he will never return. 

-/-

Not only does Wei Wuxian return, he also tells Jiang Cheng that he can get his core back.

Jiang Cheng ignores the small signs of his brother’s fear and discomfort. 

What about Jiang Cheng regaining his core could possibly hurt his brother? 

-/-

When Jiang Cheng makes it down the mountain and takes off his blindfold, Wei Wuxian is nowhere to be seen. Fear shatters the previously intense happiness at regaining his core. His brother promised that he would be here when Jiang Cheng got back. 

Wei Wuxian never breaks his promises. Wei Wuxian can do the impossible. He got Jiang Cheng’s core back. (and it’s even stronger than before) What could possibly stop him from meeting Jiang Cheng?

-/-

Jiang Cheng waits for three days, and Wei Wuxian never turns up.

-/-

Despite being one of the major players in the beginning of the Sunshot Campaign, Jiang Cheng uses all of his resources to keep an eye and ear out for Wei Wuxian. 

His brother is nowhere to be found.

-/-

Jiang Cheng hears that Lan Wanji, he’s known as HanGuang-Jun now, is also looking for Wei Wuxian, and he gets his hopes up. Lan Wangji helped his brother kill the Xuanwu, Jiang Cheng knows his skill. If the esteemed HanGuang-Jun is looking for Wei Wuxian as well, how could his brother possibly escape notice?

And yet, Wei Wuxian does not show himself.

-/-

It takes three months for Jiang Cheng to find his brother, and when it finally happens, it’s actually more like Wei Wuxian finding him. 

His brother did the impossible yet again, Jiang Cheng thinks in a daze. He actually created a viable way to cultivate resentful energy. Wei Wuxian created his own method of cultivation, and then killed Wen Chao _and_ Wen Zhuliu. 

Jiang Cheng was right. Wei Wuxian is the factor that will allow them to retake Lotus Pier. 

-/-

When Wei Wuxian tells them about the iron sword from the Xuanwu, Lan Wangji protests. Jiang Cheng encourages his brother to retrieve it, says he’ll go with him. 

Wei Wuxian creates the Stygian Tiger Amulet.

-/-

Lan Wangji asks Wei Wuxian to come back to Gusu with him because he cares, and Jiang Cheng knows his brother misunderstands, knows that Wei Wuxian thinks Lan Wangji wants to punish him. Knows that even the thought of punishing Wei Wuxian would never cross HanGuang-Jun’s mind. Knows that Lan Wangji searched for Wei Wuxian even harder than Jiang Cheng. 

And yet, he lets his brother keep the misconception. 

Jiang Cheng brings Wei Wuxian with him. 

They take back Lotus Pier.

Jiang Cheng knows that Wei Wuxian is suffering because of the amulet, but they’re all suffering, his brother isn’t special. (for once in his life, Jiang Cheng adds bitterly)

-/-

Lan Wangji begs Wei Wuxian, and Wei Wuxian rejects him. Jiang Cheng just watches with the tiniest kernel of guilt in his stomach. 

He understands that going to GusuLan might actually help his brother, and he knows Lan Wangji would never hurt Wei Wuxian. 

But for Jiang Cheng to truly avenge his parents and their disciples, he has to defeat Wen Ruohan. To defeat Wen Ruohan, he needs Wei Wuxian.

-/-

Wei Wuxian is his family, Jiang Cheng thinks while running through sword forms he’d perfected years ago, but he’s not blood. 

Jiang Cheng lets the sweat drip into his eyes and feels it burn. If he has to choose between revenge for his parents, or Wei Wuxian’s momentary comfort, there’s really no choice at all.

-/-

(Jiang Cheng knows he’s lying to himself. He knows that he isn’t just throwing away Wei Wuxian _momentary_ comfort. He knows that soon Wei Wuxian will reach an edge, a fall he cannot climb his way back from, and Jiang Cheng will be right behind him, cheering him on.

It’s then that Jiang Cheng gradually begins to think of Wei Wuxian as something less than a brother.)

fin.

**Author's Note:**

> leave a comment if you liked or disliked something/want to see something in specific in these last few fics!!!
> 
> thank you!  
> *mwah*  
> xoxo


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